MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

I got this recipe years ago from the back of a marshmellow creme container.  I have used it since for making fudge.  It is easy and delicious.

Fantasy Fudge in the microwave

3/4 cup butter, 3 cups sugar, 5 oz. evaporated milk, 1 12 oz package chocolate chips (2 cups), 1 7 oz jar marshmellow cream, 1 tsp. van.

Microwave butter in 4 qt glass bowl on high 1 min.   Add sugar and evaporated milk.  Mix well.  Microwave on high 3 min. Stir.  Microwave on high 2 min.  Stir.   Microwave on high 3 min. Stir.  Microwave on high 2 min.  Stir.  Remove from microwave, add chocolate chips.  Stir until chips are melted.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan.  Cool at room temperature.  Cut into squares.  Makes approx. 3 lb.

I use this same recipe for peanut butter fudge, vanilla, and butterscotch.  Just substitute the chocolate chips  with peanut butter chips or whatever type you are using.  When making chocolate fudge, we prefer milk chocolate chips.

Today, we have been busy with school.  We did a batch of apples in the steam juicer.  We got 1 gal and 1 qt. of juice.  We then run the apples through the Roma sauce maker and got enough applesauce to make 3 qts of applebutter.  YUM!  I also made a batch of homemade laundry soap. 

Colors here are at their peak this week.  I hope to get more pictures to share.  We have been having rain but it looks like it will clear up this evening.  Hubby has been busy making a king size bed for Jess and Dave.  I will show you all pictures when he gets it finished.  I think it looks beautiful.  Here he is working on one of the posts for the headboard.  I think I actually managed to get this picture without him knowing it.  He was deep in concentration.

Tonights supper will be baked pork chops with potatoes and carrots, pumpkin pie for dessert.  I guess I better get busy, I think everyone is getting hungry.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Here is a picture of our irises that are blooming in the green swing area.  These were given to me several years ago by a good friend who attends our Friday Ladies Study.  Thanks again, Barbara.  I just love their purple color.

Yesterday, I made buttermilk.  I have attempted several times to make cottage cheese but I keep doing something wrong.  So I decided yesterday to change gears a little and try making buttermilk.  It turned out great.  It tastes a lot like kefir.  Here’s what I did.  I used almost a qt. of our raw milk.  I did not skim off the cream.  I then added 1/4 cup of whole milk buttermilk I had purchased from the store.  I shook it up and sit it out on the counter for about 20 hrs.  I was told there is no set time for how long to leave it out.  It all depends on the temperature of your house.  This same rule applies to kefir.  The warmer the temperature the quicker it will set.  It is ready when you turn the jar over and it all leaves the side of the jar in one clump.  Shake the jar for about 5 min and put in the refridgerator to chill.  I am very happy with the results and definitely will be making more.

This is a picture I never get tired of seeing.  I LOVE hanging my clothes on the line.  I LOVE seeing them hanging on the line and I LOVE smelling them after they have dried hanging on the line.  To me, drying my clothes on the line is one of the luxuries of being a stay at home wife and mother.

I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless.

Our corn is ready!  I love fresh garden corn.  We have been working some of it up this morning.   So far we have put 58 ears in the freezer and 9 pts cut off the cob.  I have a vacuum sealer which I use for the corn and other stuff.  It is a very handy thing to have.  I purchase items at the store in bulk at a discounted price and then separate them out into portions we can use.  Then seal them with the vacuum sealer.  It really makes a difference.  No freezer burn.

   The type of corn we raise is called Merit Corn or where I’m from they call it Garden Creek Corn.  The man who had the seed for it lived on Garden Creek, thus the name.  It is an excellent corn, very sweet.  It is called the silkless corn because when you shuck it the silks just fall off with the shucks.  I LIKE THAT!  Makes working the corn so much easy.

We have been getting quite a lot of rain here this week.  The temperatures have cooled down some though because of the rain.  Yesterday, the girls and I worked on apples.  16 quarts to be exact.  I used my new steamer juicer and extracted over a qt of juice from the peelings.  We had fresh apple juice with breakfast this morning.  Very delicious!

Better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Saturday while down at Jessica’s we went over to David’s mothers.  There we found an apple tree loaded with apples and ready to be picked.  She said we could have them.  We did get a surprise though.  They are not your normal apple.

We gathered about a 1/2 bushel and brought them home.  We had never seen an apple that looked like this one.  I’m not sure what their name is but they are difinitely different.  What fun we had today working with these.  Grace of course loved them as pink is her favorite color.

After cooking them and running them through the sauce maker, they turn a beautiful, darker color.

We canned 9 pints and put 1 qt bag in the freezer.  I think they look very pretty in the jar.  Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, we will be making spaghetti sauce.  We have  a bushel of tomatoes to work up.  Our pastor’s wife gave us her spaghetti sauce recipe, so I think we will make it tomorrow.  She gave us a can to try and we all thought it was very good.  The recipe I have made before does not get thick enough so I have been on the search for a new one.  I’ll let you all know tomorrow how it turns out.  Take care and God bless.

Our grapevine is looking very good this year.  Last year we only had a few grapes, thanks to a late frost.  Hopefully we will have much more this year.  When we bought the vines I thought I was getting blue concord grapes.  However these are green in color.  They taste like concord grapes though and make great jelly-it’s just green instead of purple.  They seem to be hardy and very productive and that’s what counts.

My mint is doing very well this year.  I have to keep a close eye on it though as it loves to take over the garden.  I think I will make mint tea today.  I make mine by using 2 cups chopped mint leaves with 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.  Let sit for 15 min.  Sweeten to taste and refrigerate.  This will make 1 qt. of tea.  Delicious served cold with ice.

This mint is called pineapple mint.  Very colorful.  It makes a beautiful border and very good tea as well.  Sometimes I mix the two mints together.  I love making fresh tea.  Today is my friend Vicki’s birthday.  We are going over to her house for a cook out and to help her celebrate.  I think I will take some fresh tea for her to try.  The girls have started the housework so I guess I best help.  Take care, enjoy your day and God bless.